Map

Map is Vessel's geographic workspace. It combines editable map layers, vector features, and live entity positions into one operational view.

What Map Is For

Use Map when you need to:

• organize places, routes, and areas of interest
• draw operational geometry directly on a map
• inspect GPS-backed entities in geographic context
• reuse saved layers inside dashboards

Core Concepts

Layer

A layer is a named collection of map features. It is the main container users work with when editing spatial data.

Feature

A feature is a spatial object that belongs to a layer. The current feature types are:

• point
• line
• polygon

Vertex

Vertices define the shape of a line or polygon and the position of a point.

Active layer

The main editing experience works against one selected layer at a time. Drawing and feature editing apply to the currently active layer.

Entity overlay

The map also displays entity positions separately from drawn features. This is useful when you want to see operational objects on top of user-defined geometry.

User Flow

The typical workflow is:

1. Open the Map page.
2. Create a layer or select an existing layer.
3. Choose a drawing mode.
4. Add points on the map to create a point, line, or polygon.
5. Confirm the shape.
6. Inspect or edit the resulting feature.
7. Switch layers or reuse the layer in a dashboard panel.

How To Use Map

1. Select a layer

Layers are the starting point for map editing. If no layer is selected, drawing tools stay unavailable.

2. Choose a drawing mode

The toolbar lets you switch between:

• point drawing
• line drawing
• polygon drawing

3. Draw and confirm

For lines and polygons, add vertices on the map and confirm the result from the toolbar. You can also cancel an in-progress shape.

4. Inspect details

Click a feature to open its detail panel. From there you can inspect geometry-related information and update feature properties.

5. Switch the base map

Map currently supports multiple base map styles, including dark and satellite views, so you can choose the context that best fits the task.

Core Design

Map separates spatial editing into three concerns:

• server-backed spatial data such as layers, features, and vertices
• client-side interaction state such as drawing mode and selected feature
• entity overlays sourced from device or entity state

This design keeps the product flexible:

• persistent geometry lives on the server
• short-lived interaction state lives in the client
• geographic context can be embedded into other surfaces such as dashboards

Map and Dashboard Integration

Saved layers can be embedded into dashboard map panels. This makes the map system more than a standalone page: it becomes a reusable spatial component across the product.

Practical Notes

• The main map currently focuses on one active layer at a time.
• The client remembers the last viewed map position and zoom locally.
• Base maps depend on external tile providers.
• Initial positioning prefers the last stored view, then browser geolocation, then a fallback default.